Ahem, moving along… momentarily… give me a second to get my eyeballs back in their sockets… There! Okay, then… Stunning. Yup, that’s the word – stunning.

Read the article, looked at all the pics, watched the video. The structure is a success on many levels. The article, though, puts every last bit of focus on the architect. Nary a mention, let alone plaudits, for the structural engineer(s) or the obviously talented concrete techs. Those weren’t just big, sweaty guys doing plumber impersonations and wolf whistling at female passers-by. Nope… those are bona fide artists, whose experience and skill is every bit as necessary to the final result as the venerated architect. While Ken Kellogg may have experience in the field of concrete, I doubt he could have held his own on the concrete team. (If I’m wrong about that, I’ll gladly apologize.) There’s no reason to not equally applaud the building crew because 99.999% of the time building is a team effort.

And those efforts are impressive. Several interior oxidized steel elements, especially the large scale helix in the dining room, add to the sculptural feel of the structure. The video rightly highlights this feeling by including time lapse images of sunbeams playing across the spaces, as well as images and audio of running water features. (Just the sound of running water produces a sense of cooling in arid settings.) A number of what appear to be modern bronze sculptures also put me in mind of cooling; being inside, they remain cool to the touch.

Those are some great photos of the exterior of the house. They have all this great dramatic lighting. My only problem is that where it’s situated, no one will see it. You can get a few glimpses of the side of the house from street view, but you can’t see the thing unless you hike for several miles to the hills in front of it in the park.

The other thing is I can’t tell if that path up to the house is designed for vehicles or simply a foot path. Good luck with the groceries. And are those stairs the only way to get in? Definitely not wheelchair friendly.